Twenty-One (also called Blackjack) is a staple of most casinos. Conventional Twenty-One involves a game of chance between a dealer and one or more players. The object is for the player to achieve a count of his hand closer to 21 than the count of the hand of the dealer; but if the count of the player's hand goes over 21 then the player loses regardless of the final count of the dealer's hand.
A standard deck of playing cards is used and each card counts its face value, except Aces which have a value of one or eleven as is most beneficial to the count of the hand. Both the dealer and the player initially receive two cards. One of the dealer's cards is dealt face down and the other of the dealer's cards is dealt face up. The player may draw additional cards (take "hits") in order to try and beat the count of the dealer's hand. If the player's count exceeds 21, the player "busts." After all of the players have taken hits or have stood on their hand, the dealer "stands" or "hits" based on pre-established rules for the game. Typically, if the dealer has less than 17, the dealer must take a hit. If the dealer has 17 or more, the dealer stands. The closest to a 21 count, without going over, wins; tie hands are a "push."
One modification that is often permitted in a conventional Twenty-One game is what is known as "Insurance." The player has the opportunity to make an "insurance" bet when the dealer's face up card is an Ace. These insurance bets are made after each player and the dealer receives their first two cards and before any additional cards are dealt. When the dealer's face up card is an Ace, each player can wager one-half of the amount of his original wager as insurance against the player having a Blackjack, i.e. a two-card 21 count (an Ace and a 10 count card such as a King, Queen, Jack or Ten). Insurance bets are usually only permitted when the dealer's "up" card is an Ace.
If the dealer has a two-card 21 count, the player loses on his original wager but wins two-to-one odds on his second "insurance" bet. Also if the dealer has a two-card 21 count, the round of the game is over and all players lose except those who also have two-card 21 counts. If the dealer does not have a two-card 21 count, the player loses on his "insurance" bet and the round of the game continues.
Twenty-One has remained remarkably unchanged over the years. There have been a few other modifications proposed to the basic game, but none of these modifications have achieved universal popularity. For example, in the conventional Twenty-One game, the dealer shows one (the "up" card) of his first two cards and the other card (the "hole" card) is kept hidden until all the players have drawn to their hands. One modification involves the dealer showing both of his cards face up before the players draw. This improves the player's odds of winning and the payout odds have been modified to adjust for this change so that the house's advantage remains.
Recently a Twenty-One game known as "Royal Match 2I" has been introduced. A player makes a separate bet to be eligible for the Royal Match feature of the game. If the player's first two cards are of the same suit, the player is an instant winner and receives whatever the posted payout is. If the player's first two cards are the Ace and King of the same suit, the player wins whatever the posted Royal Match payout is. The separate Royal Match bets are placed in a separate jackpot and the player wins half of the jackpot amount for a Royal Match. The house retains the remainder of the jackpot.
Another recently introduced Twenty-One game is "Fortune Card 21." In this game, extra Fortune Cards of various colors are added to a standard playing deck of cards. Whenever a Fortune Card is dealt, each player has the option of making a separate Fortune Card bet. If the next card dealt is also a Fortune Card, each player who has made a Fortune Card bet is a winner. The amount won depends on the colors of the Fortune Cards. The separate Fortune Card bets are placed in a separate jackpot and the players win portions of the jackpot amount for winning Fortune Card events. One-half of the Fortune Card jackpot is retained by the house.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,861,041 (Jones et al.) discloses a Twenty-One game in which the player may make a separate bet at the beginning of the game in order to be eligible for a separate jackpot. Those players who have made this separate bet can win all of part of the jackpot if the player's cards correspond to certain predetermined hands. For example, if a player achieves four 5's and an Ace, the player can win 100% of the jackpot. If the player achieves an Ace, Two, Three, Four, Five and Six, the player wins 10% of the jackpot. Other combinations can pay other percentages or flat amounts from the jackpot. The amount of this side jackpot continues to progress until all or part of the jackpot is won by a player.
The disadvantage of conventional Twenty-One is that, once the player draws his cards and exceeds a count of 21 (i.e. the player busts), the player has no further interest in what occurs during the remainder of the round. Once the player "busts", he has lost and nothing else that happens can change the fact that the player has lost. It can be very frustrating to the player to be sitting at a Twenty-One table after the player has "busted" and have the dealer also "bust."
It can also be very disappointing for the player to be dealt or draw to a hand count of 19 or 20, and have the dealer achieve a card count of 21. There is a need in Twenty-One for a modification in which the player has the opportunity to make an additional wager on whether the dealer will achieve exactly a hand count of 21 or bust.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a form of Twenty-One in which the player still has a chance to win even if the player has busted on his own hand and the dealer achieves a hand count of exactly 21.
It is a feature of the present invention to provide a separate wager that allows the player to bet whether or not the dealer will bust or achieve a hand count of exactly 21. This wager is independent of what happens on the player's own hand. There are no modifications to the regular method of play of Twenty-One; the players and the dealer play out their hands as would normally occur and the determination of this separate bet is made at the end of the round.
It is an advantage of the present invention that the player has the opportunity to win if the dealer busts his hand or achieves a hand count of exactly 21, even if the player has busted on his own hand. This maintains player interest in the game until the end of the round. This also gives the player the opportunity to win twice on the same round; the player can achieve a winning Twenty-One hand and the player can also win if the dealer busts.